The invention relates to a deaeration and vent valve useful in association with a pressurized fluid-communicating system for reducing the amount of air delivered from a pump to a primary reservoir of the system, and a vent means for maintaining the primary reservoir substantially full of fluid.
Air contamination of hydraulic fluids is a common problem in the hydraulics fields. Deaeration means presently used include filters, specially-baffled tanks, and air-bleed valves. These devices are satisfactory for typical hydraulic systems, wherein the amount of agitation of the hydraulic fluid is kept to a minimum. New lines of earth-moving equipment, however, have more active hydraulic systems which have a tendency to cause a greater amount of aeration. Further, these new lines of earth-moving products and more extensive hydraulic systems are often required to operate at angles from the horizontal substantially greater than those encountered by previous earth-moving products.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a deaeration and vent valve which, when used in association with a pressurized fluid-communicating system, substantially reduces the amount of air delivered to the primary reservoir of this system, even when the system is operated at substantially large angles from the horizontal.